The first minister in the Hennepin community was Jacob Burkey of Hesse, Germany, who never lived in the Tiskilwa neighborhood. The Willow Springs congregation suffered for many years from inadequate and even absentee ministerial leadership and was not established on a sound basis until 1868, when Joseph Burkey, a minister at Tremont, Illinois, moved in and was ordained bishop a year later. His successor was C. A. Hartzler, a minister from Garden City, Missouri, who came in 1913 and was or­dained bishop a year later. C. W. Long was pastor in 1957, with a membership of 142.